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    1. Distributed Energy

    Canadian grid operator, utility & developers create Microgrid community in Ontario

    Nov. 16, 2021
    The project will demonstrate how communities and firms can develop energy-efficient homes
    Photo courtesy Opus One Solutions
    Photo courtesy Opus One Solutions

    The Independent System Electricity Operator (IESO) in Canada, software solutions firm Opus One Solutions, utility company Elexicon Energy and property developer Marshall Homes have created a new microgrid community in west Pickering, Ontario.

    Home owners in the Altona Towns community will have more choice and control over their electricity production and consumption. They will be able to save money and reduce emissions through the coordinated use of EV chargers, solar panels and energy storage.

    The 27 houses in the Altona Towns community will be equipped with a 250 kW/500 kWh battery, 25kW of rooftop solar generation, an EV charger and an app, providing real-time visibility into electricity usage. The use of solar panels and battery storage will ensure improved grid resiliency at times of extreme weather.

     Opus One Solutions CEO Joshua Wong said, “Opus One Solutions is proud to partner with Elexicon, Marshall Homes and the IESO on accelerating the energy transition with smart, local community energy. Through the usage of Opus Ones’ GridOS grid management software, the Altona Town Homes microgrid will deliver grid resiliency and affordable clean energy to its residents for the long term. We look forward to building similar partnership networks across Canada for a low carbon future.”

     The MPP for Pickering—Uxbridge, Peter Bethlenfalvy praised the new project, “Today’s announcement is great news for new homeowners in west Pickering, giving them more choice and control over their electricity production and consumption. This microgrid community project is the first of its kind in our province that will save new homeowners money, reduce emissions and help operators manage the provincial grid more cost-effectively.”

     Minister of Energy Todd Smith added, “Local microgrid communities like this one are just the type of innovation we need in Ontario to help us meet our future energy needs. Working in partnership with the IESO, I commend Opus One, Elexicon Energy and Marshall Homes for exploring opportunities to use green technologies like rooftop solar, battery storage, smart panels and EV chargers, for the benefit of local communities.”

     The project, which is partly funded by the IESO’s Grid Innovation Fund, will demonstrate how energy-efficient housing can be developed through collaboration between communities, hydro firms and developers.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.